Separation
by SealingWax
Summary: After everything they've been through together, it kills Carth that the thing to separate him from Revan is nothing more than a stupid door. This won't happen. Not if he can help it. Carth/LSF Revan. Takes place after Revan begins her duel with Bastila.


The instant the paralysis wears off, the _moment_ he is released from Bastila's stasis field, Carth pushes his way past Jolee, raises his twin blasters, and begins to bash the enormous blast door that separates him and Revan. Carth fires again and again, over and over – relentlessly hurling every blaster bolt he has at the obstacle in front of him. But, of course, the door doesn't budge.

"Damn!" Carth curses.

When it's clear that his blasters have failed him, Carth pulls out a vibroblade and begins to hack away at the barrier so ancient that it is probably older than the Republic itself. The weapon feels cold and unfamiliar in Carth's hands, but still he attacks the door, that miserable door, again and again, until his palms are rubbed raw and his fingers are stiff with pain. The chamber fills with the clanging sound of metal glancing off of metal.

"I won't give up on you!" Carth shouts. His voice echoes in the silence. A few feet away, Carth can feel Jolee watching him, judging him. He doesn't care. He redoubles his efforts, burning with renewed energy. Carth refuses to be pitied. And he refuses to surrender.

Eventually, it hurts too much to continue. Carth has fallen to his knees. His tireless crusade to open that damn door, his ceaseless series of blaster bolts and swings of a vibroblade, has been reduced to just one thing: his fist, which he slams repeatedly against the metal.

"Come on, you stupid door," mutters Carth. "_Open_!"

His voice breaks… and, at last, so does he.

"This- this can't be happening," he whispers. Carth isn't sure who he's talking to, but he goes on anyway. "You can't take her away from me. Not when we're so close to Malak, and- and she's so close to her destiny." His grip on his vibroblade tightens. "I won't let that happen."

A hand grasps Carth's shoulder.

"You can't save her from everything, sonny," says Jolee softly.

It takes great effort for Carth to lift his head, but he does it, raising his weary eyes up to meet Jolee's.

"I know," he says quietly. "But I would hate myself if I didn't at least try."

Forcing his exhaustion back, Carth gets slowly to his feet and looks at Jolee fully. And somehow, even here in the Star Forge that has cost them so much to find, Carth manages a smile. "I thought you were here to 'remove certain barriers in her path', old man," he teases Jolee. "What about this one?" He indicates the massive door.

"I promised to remove the barriers in her path, not yours, boy," Jolee points out. "Not that she ever really needed me, anyway, but when you're as old as I am, it's nice to have young whippersnappers like her depend on you sometimes."

"Is she alive, Jolee?" asks Carth seriously, before his courage can abandon him. "You can feel things through the Force, so you can tell me- did Revan survive her battle with Bastila?"

Jolee's smile fades. "You could have asked me that half an hour ago."  
>"What is that supposed to mean?" asks Carth. His fear spikes. "Is she dead? Please say she isn't dead. I promised her I'd protect her!"<p>

"Calm down, sonny, she's not dead," says Jolee.

Carth blinks, unsure whether he heard the old Jedi correctly or his imagination is playing a cruel trick on him. "She's- she's alive?"

"Put two and two together, have you?" says Jolee, sounding amused. "Yes, sonny. As base logic will tell you, if she's not dead, she's alive."

The most powerful wave of relief sweeps through Carth, leaving him light-headed, and, ironically, he has to lean against the door he so hates for support.

"What… what about Bastila?" asks Carth when he has recovered enough to stand.

"Revan redeemed her," answers Jolee, and there's no mistaking the note of pride in the old man's voice. "Thanks to Revan, Bastila has come back to the light side, and is using her Battle Meditation to turn the tide in the favor of the Republic."

"Well, that's good to hear," says Carth. Then he takes a deep breath, and lets it out slowly. "And… and Revan?"

"Is on her way to fulfilling her destiny," says Jolee promptly.

"She's fighting Malak?" asks Carth. "Right now?"

"And doing a damn good job of it, too," says Jolee. "But don't get your hopes up just yet, boy. The Force is unpredictable. Things could still change."

To Jolee's surprise, Carth chuckles. "I wouldn't be so sure about that, Jolee," he says. "I know Revan- I can say that as a fact now-" He looks at the door separating him from the woman he loves, but at the same time it's as though he's looking through it, watching her fight for her life and the fate of the galaxy in a fated battle with her old apprentice. Watching her overcome Malak and win that battle, as he knows she will.

"And if any one person can save this galaxy…"

He smiles.

"It's her."


End file.
